


The Killing Moon

by grus



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 09:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8007391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grus/pseuds/grus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy Harper gets kidnapped and it's up to Jason Todd and Tim Drake to save him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Killing Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place somewhere during the original Red Hood and the Outlaws run, however I did keep some pre new 52 aspects of canon that I'm fond of such as Jason wearing a domino mask under the hood (you will pry this from my cold dead hands). 
> 
> Tim and Jason's relationship is not quite as easy as shown during that cute breakfast they had but it's getting there, so take this as an in between stage, no one wants to murder anyone anymore but some awkwardness still remains. I just felt the comics really neglected this stage and it realistically would have lasted longer (but eh, a lot of stuff got mangled in the reboot). 
> 
> As to Jay and Roy you can read this as friendly or as shippy, that's up to your preference.
> 
> The violence isn't very graphic but I wanted to be on the safe side with the rating. 
> 
> The title comes from an Echo & the Bunnymen song.

Jason was smoking a cigarette, the cold rain pelting down on him in one of Gotham's dark alleys. He'd been waiting for over half an hour, in a way grateful for the rain keeping him awake – it was past 1 am and the last time he'd slept was 3 days ago. But the time was ticking away and there was no room for dalliances, dammit.

The hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly. He grabbed the offending wrist with his other hand in an attempt to still it. He was losing it and he knew it, hence his reluctant request for assistance.

He checked his phone: no call back from Ollie – figures, the guy could never be relied on when real need arose. Made Bruce look like a model parent by comparison. Nothing from Kori on that intergalactic communicator she'd given him either – she'd warned him about the magnetic storms around her planet being a hindrance 90% of the time. Just his luck Kori had left for a diplomatic mission on Tamaran right before this shit went down. “Look out for him,” her words echoed in Jason's ears. He hit the wall with his fist.

“Someone's in a mood...”

Jason spun around, and scowled.

“Good to see you too, now stop acting like I'm not invited to your brooding party, since you're the one who called me in the first place,” Tim folded his arms in front of him defensively.

Jason groaned quietly, the very fact that the kid got the drop on him so easily was yet more proof that Jason was out of it.

“Sorry... you're right. Thanks for coming,” Jason was in no mood for their usual banter, and the kid did come on such short notice, without asking too many questions.

“You're welcome, I guess,” Tim shrugged sheepishly. Them working together in relative harmony was still new territory to both.

”I brought the gear you asked me for. We should be able to track them down,” the “before it's too late” hung in the air between them unspoken.

Jason nodded solemnly.

“Oh, and could you put that out?” Tim wrinkled his nose at the cigarette Jason had been dragging on absentmindedly.

* * *

 

After two hours of frantic searching, following the scarce clues, swinging from rooftop to rooftop and busting warehouses, Jason and Tim found themselves at Gotham's old, abandoned dockyard. Hiding behind a pile of moldy crates, the former Robins listened on to the ominous occult chant, barely audible over the howl of the ocean breeze. They couldn't hear the exact words but they'd both had enough experience with such groups to recognize the nature of the sound. Jason put his hand on Tim's shoulder, looked him in the eye and signaled to wait and keep quiet. Gingerly, he left their hiding place to check out the source of the sound.

Tim was far from comfortable with this but he knew that having only one of them explore lessened the risk of detection. As he waited for Jason to return, he noticed the chanting intensify, which seemed linked to the sky clearing and the full moon being now completely visible.

Thankfully, before Tim could get too antsy, Jason was back. Crouching, head to head they quietly discussed their next move.

Just as Jason had suspected, the gang him and Roy had been tracking was in fact the Cult of Trigon also known by the less subtle Church of Blood moniker. Tim couldn't hide his surprise, hadn't the last Brother Blood been defeated long ago?

“Cults like this are like cockroaches, kiddo, these guys have been around since the middle ages, a few setbacks won't put them out of business,” Jason shrugged. Pissed as he was for them taking Roy he knew retaliation and rooting them out were not the priority for now. Getting Roy the hell out of there was first on the agenda.

“Anyway looks like tonight we're dealing just with a bunch of low level mooks, the current Brother Blood, or whatever he calls himself, didn't feel like gracing us with his presence. I guess a run down barrack ain't his idea of glamorous,” Jason hated guys like that, who stayed on the sidelines while others did their dirty work.

“I counted 10 guys, should be a walk in the park...” Jason paused, clearly upset by what he was about to reveal.

“They have Arsenal tied to some freaky altar and all eyes are on him,” Jason's fears and suspicions were being fully confirmed, these guys hadn't asked for any kind of ransom, they wanted nothing but a young body for one of their ritual sacrifices.

“So we just need to take them down before they see what hit them,” Tim smiled reassuringly.

Tim wasn't stupid, he knew how personal this was to Jason. He'd noticed how uncharacteristically Jason had been acting the entire night, ever since his plea for help. This wasn't the usual Red Hood, terror of the streets, with razor sharp senses and instincts that at times put Batman himself to shame.

No, this was a scared little boy, terrified of losing one of the few people that cared for him in his miserable life. Hence Jason'd been running around like a headless chicken, unable to focus and think logically. Had this been any other kidnapping, Tim was sure he would not have been needed at all.

He knew all too well what it was like to lose people you loved one after the other. He'd had his fair share of irrational behavior as a result of grief.

“Yeah,” Jason forced a weak smile. “At least we're on time, I overheard them talking and they're still waiting for the stars to align right, or some other nonsense.”

“So we sneak up and wait till they're engaged in the ritual, and then go in... Oh, and Jason, try not to murder everybody.”

Jason didn't even dignify that with an answer, just put his helmet on and started walking to the barrack.

* * *

 

The main priest was engrossed in reading out verses from an ominous looking leather bound book, when he felt the thwack of a bo staff on the back of his head. He wobbled on his feet and fell to the ground unconscious.

His right hand man, having witnessed the assault, run to their victim in order to slit his throat before the intruder could stop the sacrifice. Suddenly a bullet hit the blade and made it slip his hand. Before the cultist could even see the shooter, two more rounds hit his kneecaps.

He swooned in agonizing pain, leaning on the altar, almost spread over Arsenal's feet.  
The other eight priests threw themselves haphazardly at Jason and Tim. Several were carrying firearms, but it was clear the freshly rebuilt organization hadn't yet allotted enough time and resources to training them.

Jason would have gladly, so very gladly taken all of them out, but he didn't want to get on Tim's bad side on this of all nights. Plus there was information to be gleaned from these bastards.

After a brief flurry of kicks, hits and punches the cultists were all down for the count. Tim got down to tying them up, making sure that the bonds were extra tight and uncomfortable, while Jason ran to Roy.

Roy had been unconscious throughout the ordeal, upon closer inspection he seemed drugged. He had a black eye and a deep cut on his lip, Jason wasn't quite sure if they were from the time Roy was taken or if they occurred later on during an escape attempt.

Jason took his helmet off. Somehow it felt like the hood being the first thing Roy saw after waking wouldn't be quite right... after all he still had his domino mask underneath, so there was no worry of the cultists seeing too much.

Gently, Jason brought Roy around.

Roy yelped, shocked at the touch, but then his eyes softened when he realized who was in front of him.

“You're safe now,” Jason gave him a goofy smile.

Before he knew it Roy had dragged him down into a bear hug.

They both started laughing nervously, the tension leaving them.

Jason felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, the domino mask becoming moist and uncomfortable.

Tim looked up from his work briefly.

He couldn't hide his earnest smile at the reunion.

**Author's Note:**

> This was hard to write as I haven't written much action before and I'd also been struggling with a writer's block for a while but overall I'm glad I did. So I'm very grateful for the Batfam rolling remix challenge helping me get over those issues. This might not be perfect but I'm still quite proud of it.
> 
> My apologies for playing fast and loose with canon when it came to the cult. I don't know much about it aside from what I've googled so sorry if you're a purist, and this is hard to swallow. I guess you can read it as one of their many incarnations that's more fond of human sacrifice than usual (I don't think they focus on that in canon? Or even do it at all?).


End file.
